(For additional terms pertaining to type and type composition see page32, No.1, of this series of books entitled “Type.”)

Ad-man—

A compositor who sets advertisements on a newspaper or other publication.

Antique Face—

A style of type having all parts of the letters thickened, making a heavy appearance. Sample:

Example: MODERN PRESSWORK

Arabic Numbers—

The ten figures in common use, in distinction from Roman numbers or those made with letters.

Asterisk—

Another name for the star *, commonly used as a reference mark.

Author’s Proof—

A proof sent to the author after compositor’s errors have been corrected. Author’s corrections are those made on such a proof when returned, usually changes from the original copy.

Bad Break—

An objectionable division of a word at the end of a line or between two paragraphs or between two pages.

Batter—

Bruised letters or other faces in a type form or electrotype.

Begin Even—

To start the paragraph or the line without indention.

Beveled Sidestick—

Strips of wood or metal the height of furniture, wider at one end than the other, used with wedges or quoins to tighten forms together.

Black Letter—

A style of letter used for the first printing types, made in imitation of the hand lettering in early manuscripts; made in many variations called by different names: Old English, Caxton Black, Priory Text, Cloister Black, etc. Sample:

Example: Ye Quality Book Papers

Bodkin—

A long slender awl sometimes used in correcting type.

Body Size—

The depth of the type from the top to the bottom of the line.

Book Font—

A large quantity sufficient to set a number of pages, with a complete set of characters, as distinguished from a small or job font.

Border—

A set of characters of plain or ornamental design used for panels or frames around pages or sections of pages.

Boxed, or Boxed-in—

Lines of type or other matter enclosed in a small panel or border.

Braces—

A set of characters used for connecting two or more lines or items. Sample:

Braces

Brackets—

Signs of punctuation for enclosing words, letters, figures, [].

Brass Thins—

Justifying spaces 1-point thick, made of brass.

Brasses—

Strips of brass to be used as leads, where more durable metal than lead is desirable.

Break-line—

The last line of a paragraph where quads are needed to fill out the measure.

Broken Matter—

Type lines that have been taken apart but not distributed; pi.

California Job Case—

A type case holding a complete font of capitals, lower-case letters, figures, points, etc. See page12.

Case—

In a composing room, the tray with compartments in which type is kept for composing.

Cast Off—

Estimating the number of lines or pages of type a manuscript or other lot of copy will make.

Cast Up—

Measuring the amount of type set, usually by ems; measuring up.

Clean Proof—

A first proof without errors or with very few unimportant errors.

Clearing Away—

Putting surplus leads, rules, furniture, and other materials back in their places when the make-up or lock-up is completed.

Close Spacing—

Thin spacing.

Close Quote—

The final marks enclosing a quotation, usually two apostrophes:”.

Come In—

When the letters of a line or the words of copy are set so that they occupy a given space they are said to “come in.”

Comp.—

Abbreviation for compositor or composition.

Composing—

Setting type and other material to make a printing form.

Composing Room—

That part of a printing establishment in which the type is set and the forms locked up for the press.

Composing Rule—

A strip of brass or steel used in the composing stick while setting type and for handling lines.

Compositor—

One who sets type; according to the class of work done, he is termed a book, newspaper, ad, or job compositor.

Condensed Face—

A type face thinner in shape than the normal; it may be light or heavy as to blackness. Sample:

Example of Condensed Face

Copper Thin—

A very thin justifying space, 1/2-point, made from copper.

Copy—

Handwritten, typewritten, or printed words or designs given to the printer or engraver for reproduction.

Copy Cutter—

In daily newspaper rooms, the foreman’s assistant whose duty it is to arrange the copy for the compositors. He receives it from the editorial room, marks the size of type, the style of headings, etc., according to the custom of the publication, and cuts the copy into portions, or takes, so that it may be in the hands of several compositors or machine operators for composing in the quickest time.

Copyholder—

One who holds copy and reads it aloud to the proofreader.

Cut-in Letter—

A large letter set into the beginning of a paragraph; an initial.

Dash—

A horizontal stroke cast on a type body of en, em, two-em, or three-em width, thus – — —— ———. The common dash is one em, used as a punctuation mark and for many other purposes. The apprentice should not confuse the en dash – with the hyphen-.

Dead—

Said of type or other printing matter that has been used or is not to be used. Dead type is ready for distribution.

Diagonal Indention—

See page53.

Dis.—

Abbreviation for distributing.

Display—

Type composition in which various sizes and faces are used, like advertisements, title pages, etc., in distinction from plain reading matter.

Distributing—

Putting type back in the cases after use.

Dot Leaders—

High metal quads with dots cast on their end, in distinction from hyphen or dash leaders.

Dotted Rule—

Brass rule with dotted faces, for blank forms, to serve as a line upon which writing is to be done:..................................

Double—

Words repeated by mistake in setting; a doublet. The term double is used in many cases before other words to indicate double quantity, size, or quality.

Drive Out—

To thick space and put the whole of the next word in the following line.

Dupe—

Abbreviation of duplicate; an extra first-proof of type composition which is to be paid for by the piece, or to measure up the amount of work done by a compositor or machine operator.

Dutchman—

A joke-name for a piece of wood or toothpick driven into a line that has not been properly justified; the mark of a careless compositor.

Em—

The square of a type body Em-square. En, one half the square, A rectangle half the width of an em-square.

Empty Case—

A case without sorts or letters that are needed to compose the line; it may have other letters but is empty of those required.

End Even—

To make the words fill out the line.

Extended Face—

Said of faces of type made extra broad; the term expanded is sometimes used. See type founders’ specimen books.

Extra Condensed—

A type face which has been compressed very narrow. Sample:

Example: Extra Condensed type face

Extract—

A passage taken from another book or another author’s writings; a quotation.

Fac-simile—

An exact reproduction of an original; often abbreviated to fac-sim.

Fat—

Composition which has many broken lines and open spaces; matter with many quads and leads, which can be set profitably by piece-work. Sometimes spelled phat in printers’ literature.

Fat-face—

A style of type face with very much thickened heavy lines; sometimes full-face.

First Proof—

The proof taken for correcting compositor’s errors, in distinction from revise, author’s proof, or subsequent proofs.

Floor Pi—

Type dropped on the floor and allowed to remain until swept up.

Folio—

A page number. Also, a sheet folded once, a size of paper, a sheet containing a certain number of words.

Follow Copy—

An instruction to follow the copy in matters of spelling, punctuation, use of capitals, italics, and other particulars, disregarding the style of the shop to a more or less degree according to necessities.

Font—

A complete assortment of types of one size and face or of one class of characters, as a cap font, a small-cap font, italic font.

Form—

A page or number of pages or other printing surfaces assembled for printing.

Foundry Type—

Type designed and cast by regular foundries which make their chief business supplying printers; in distinction from type cast by Monotype, Linotype, and other machines in private establishments.

Full Measure—

Type lines set the full width of the column of page in distinction from short lines or half measure.

Galley—

A shallow tray for holding type after it is set.

Get In—

To thin space a line in order to make room for the last few letters of a word; to take in; opposite of drive out.

Gothic—

Type founders and printers in America use this word to name a type face of the simplest style, without serifs and with strokes of one thickness throughout Gothic Types. Bibliographers and scholars name certain old style forms of black letter Gothic, as representing the true Gothic character. Our so-called gothics are made in many variations and are chiefly used for newspaper and job work, but are not acceptable for book work.

Hair Line—

Said of a very delicate face, as of a brass rule or the fine connecting strokes of a letter.

Hair Space—

A type space thinner than the 5-space.

Half-diamond Indention—

An arrangement of lines in which the second and succeeding line are indented at each end shorter than the line above; inverted pyramid style.

Hanging Indention—

When the first line is set flush at the beginning and succeeding lines indented an em or more, as in this paragraph.

High Spaces and Quads—

These are used when the type is to be regularly used for moulding for electrotyping. See page18.

Head and Tail—

The top and bottom margins of a book page.

Hell, or Hell-box—

Old name for the receptacle for old or damaged type; a dumping place for discarded type.

High-to-line—

When a letter or a ^word is above the alignment of the rest of the line; when it is _below it is low-to-line.

Hollow Quads—

See Quotation.

Hyphen—

Used at the ends of lines when words are divided; also for compounding words, and sometimes for leaders. See Dash.

Imposition—

The arrangement and locking up of pages so that they will come in proper order when the sheet is folded after printing.

Imprint—

The name, with or without address, of the printer, publisher, or dealer placed on a book or other work.

In the Metal—

In type, as to correct in the metal or to revise in the metal without taking proof.

Indention—

The setting in of a line or body of type by a blank space at the beginning or left hand, as in the first line of a paragraph; also the space thus left blank. The printer’s indention is not (as it is often said to be) a shortened form of indentation, but an original word from dent (dint), “a denting in, a depression,” and hence is the proper word, rather than indentation, to express the idea.—StandardDictionary.

Initial—

The first letter of a word; in typesetting, a large letter set into the beginning of a paragraph.

Inverted Commas—

The quotation marks used at the beginning of a quotation: “.

Job Case—

A type case holding a complete font of capitals and lower-case letters, figures, points, and spaces; in distinction from a pair of cases.

Job Compositor—

One who sets a variety of miscellaneous work in distinction from a book or newspaper hand.

Job Galley—

A short, wide galley, made in sizes from 6×10 to 15×22 inches.

Job Type—

Those miscellaneous faces, usually in small fonts, used for small work; in distinction from roman and italic faces used for books, periodicals, etc.

Justify—

To make a line or other type composition of the proper tightness to fit the space. See page27.

Keep Up—

To capitalize words which might ordinarily begin with small letters. Keep down, to begin a word with a small letter.

Keep Standing—

To save type pages or forms after printing, in case of further use.

Keep Up Style—

To follow the prescribed rules of the shop or publication regarding spelling, abbreviations, headings, capitals, punctuation, etc. See Style.

Kerned Letter—

A type on which part of the face overhangs the body.

Labor-saving—

Said of leads, rules, furniture, and other material made in sizes based on a common multiple, usually the pica. They save labor because two or more may be combined to make larger sizes, instead of cutting new material for each particular work.

Lay of the Case—

The plan of the boxes for holding the different characters of a font.

Laying Type—

Putting new type into the case, in distinction from distributing used type back into the case.

Lead

(pronounced led, not leed)—A strip of thin metal to place between lines of type.

Leaded—

Type composition having leads between the lines, in distinction from solid matter, or lines without leads.

Leaders

(leeders)—Periods or dots placed at intervals in open lines to guide the eye across to figures or words at the end, as in tables of contents, price lists, etc. Type founders cast high quads in sizes from 5-point to 18-point in several styles, like fine-dot..........., two dots to an em .., hyphen ----, and also make leaders in brass. For occasional use a few lines of leaders may be made of periods spaced apart with spaces or quads.

Lean Setting—

Type composition that is solid and with few or no blank lines. See Fat.

Letter—

Old-fashioned term for type in quantity. Letter board, a board or shelf for holding composed type.

Lift—

When type is justified and fastened together so that it may be taken up without any pieces falling out, it is said to lift.

Lining—

Said of type faces which are made to align exactly along the bottom of the letters.

Lining Figures—

Modern-cut figures made in uniform size and of equal height; in distinction from the irregular old-style figures. 1234567890: Old style numbers: 1234567890.

Live Matter—

Type composition or pages that are to be printed; after being printed or moulded it is dead and ready for distribution.

Logotype—

Two or more letters cast on one body. Ligature, two letters joined and cast together, like c-t ligature.

Low Spaces and Quads—

Those used for composition to be printed directly from the type. See page18.

Lower Case—

The type case holding the small letters, figures, points, spaces, etc. The part of a job case holding the lower-case font.

Lye—

Used for washing type. See page69.

Making Up—

To divide composed matter into pages of equal length, add headings, notes, and other parts to prepare them for imposing and locking up.

Marginal Note—

A side note.

Matter—

Composed type or linotype slugs.

Measure—

The width of a page, the full length of a line.

Measuring Up—

Finding the amount of type set. This is done by multiplying the number of ems in one line by the total number of lines set, based in ems of the size of type used. In measuring up to find the amount of composition for making a charge therefor, headings, leads, slugs, small blocks, and other items in the matter are counted as solid lines.

Motto Indention—

A note or other small block of type set at one side of the page but within the measure.

Mutton Fist—

A name sometimes given to the index or fist Pointing hand or fist.

Mutton Quad—

The em quad. For clearer distinction in speaking the term mutton is applied to the em, and the term nut to the en, as mutton dash—, nut dash–.

Nib—

The small projection on the end of a composing rule.

Nick—

A notch on the side of a type, usually indicating the lower side of the letter.

Nippers—

Another name for tweezers.

Off Its Feet—

When type does not stand up squarely, but leans slightly one way.

Out—

An omission of one or more words from the composition.

Out of Sorts—

When the supply of any needed character is gone the case, or the compositor, is out of sorts. See Sort.

Over-running—

Taking words backward or forward from one line to another in correcting.

Page Cord—

The string used to tie up pages or small jobs of type.

Page Papers—

Pieces of heavy paper or card upon which tied-up pages are placed for storage when there is not enough galley space; also called page shoes.

Pagination—

The page numbering of a book or other work.

Paragraph Mark—

One of the old-style reference marks furnished for book fonts ¶, being the capital P reversed. Paragraph marks are made in various forms for different kinds of type.

Patent Space—

A special type space equal to the thickness of two 5-spaces. This space is common in 12-point and larger sizes, but not furnished with regular fonts in smaller sizes unless ordered.

sPi—

Type thrown down, mixed, or in confusion.

Pica—

A size of type equal to 12-point. The common standard of measurement for leads, rules, furniture, and for width and length of pages. Six picas in length equal, approximately, a linear inch.

Pick for Sorts—

To take letters from standing matter, live or dead, when the case is empty and types are needed for work in hand.

Pick Up—

A heading, line, or other matter taken from a dead form and used over again.

Pieced Leads—

Two or more leads placed end to end to equal a longer strip; similarly, pieced rule, pieced furniture, pieced brace, etc.

Planer—

A smooth-faced block used to level the surface of a printing form on the imposing stone.

Point—

The unit for measuring type bodies; a mark of punctuation.

Printer’s Devil—

The old-time name for the errand boy in a printing house.

Proof—

A trial impression.

Pull a Proof—

To take a proof on a hand press by pulling over the impression bar; hence to take a proof by any means.

Quad—

A blank type larger than a space; from the word quadrat, a square, originally the em quadrat.

Quotation—

A large hollow quad.

Reference Mark—

The old-style characters * † ‡ used in book work. The modern practice is to use superior figures 123 (sometimes letters abc) in the text to refer to foot notes or notes in the appendix.

Reglet—

Strips of wood, 6-point, 12-point, and thicker used in making up forms for the press; not desirable in type pages except in large forms.

Reprint—

To set over again or to print over again.

Revise—

To examine a second proof to see that corrections have been made; a proof taken for this purpose.

Ring Mark—

A circle around a marked error to signify a special correction ordered by the proofreader or author.

Roman Type—

The common upright characters, in distinction from italics or black-letter.

Rule—

A strip of metal for printing straight lines.

Rule Work—

Composition in which brass rules are largely used, as in tabular matter, box panels, etc.

Run-arounds—

Lines of type justified around small engravings or blocks in a page or advertisement, especially when the shape of the block requires irregular lengths of the adjoining matter.

Run In—

To avoid making a paragraph, running the sentences into one paragraph.

Run Out and Indent—

To begin the paragraph without indention.

Setting Rule—

A composing rule.

Shank—

The body part of a type, as distinguished from the face, shoulder, or feet.

Side Sorts—

The infrequently used characters of a font, qxz, etc. Also any special characters kept in an auxiliary box or sort case, like figures, fractions, or other types not provided for in the regular assortment.

Sizes of Type—

See No.1, of this series for additional information about type.

Slug—

A thick lead, the usual sizes being 6-point and 12-point; used in making up pages.

Solid—

Type lines set close together without leads.

Sort—

A type or character considered as a part of a font, usually a quantity of one kind. When all the letters of one kind are missing the case is out of sorts. When the copy calls for more than the usual number of a particular character it runs on sorts.

Space Out—

To increase the spaces to fill the line. Quad out, to fill the line with quads after the words.

Squabble—

A doubling up or crumbling of lines of type; a pi.

Stand—

A frame for holding type cases; a workstand.

Standing Matter—

Composed type in galley form or made up in pages.

Stickful—

A number of composed lines equal to that contained in a composing stick.

Stone—

The imposing table, usually of marble or similar fine grain, but nowadays often of polished steel.

Stoneman—

One who works specially at the imposing and lock-up table.

Straight Matter—

Plain paragraph composition in one kind of type; in distinction from display or job work.

Style of the Office—

In order to maintain some consistency in practice in details of composition many composing rooms have rules, more or less variable, about spelling, division of words, compounding, use of italic, capitals, headings, paragraph indentions, and similar matters. A style card or style book may be prepared for the purpose by the proofreader or foreman. Frequently a publication set in a composing room may have a style (ordered by the editor or manager) somewhat different from the style of other work done in the same room.

Superiors—

Small figures or letters set above the general alignment of the main line, as for references. Inferiors are small figures below the alignment.

Take—

A portion of copy of one article or job that has been divided between several compositors to hasten its composition.

Take in—

To thin space; to get in.

Text—

The body of matter on a written or printed page, as distinguished from notes, headings, engravings, or auxiliary features. Text type, the type in which such matter is set. The term is also applied to note one of several styles of early black-letter, as Old English Text, Priory Text, etc.

Thick Space—

The en quad is sometimes so called. Some compositors call the 3-space a thick space, ignoring the fact that the 3-space is normal, neither thick nor thin.

Turn for Sorts—

When the types in a case run short and they will be supplied later, the compositor puts in another type of the same thickness, turned bottom up, the proper letter to be inserted before printing or moulding. It is the rule, when a letter has been taken from a live page to be used immediately in another place, that a turned letter should be put in place of the one taken out to show the absence of the proper letter when an impression is taken.

Turned Commas—

Inverted commas (“) at the beginning of a quotation.

Two-line Letter—

A capital letter of the depth of two lines of text used as an initial at the beginning of a subject.

Type Measure—

A strip of strong card, wood, or steel having its edges marked with scales indicating ems of type sizes; for measuring composed matter; usually only sizes up to pica or 12-point are given.

Typography—

The art and process of printing from movable types. It includes printing from engraved relief blocks which can be made up and printed with composed types. Also called letterpress printing.

Underscore—

To draw or print a line under a word or sentence.

Unit—

An accepted standard of measurement; thus the point is the unit for type sizes, the pica (12-point) is the unit for widths of pages, lengths of leads, rules, furniture, etc.

Upper Case—

The capital case.

White Out—

To blank out a page or other space with quads or furniture.

Wide Measure—

Lines of type that are longer than normal in relation to the size of type used; a length that would be normal for 12-point would be wide for 6-point, Generally, lines averaging over twelve words or fifty letters would be termed wide measure.

Wrong-font—

A letter or character in the line from another kind of type, due to mixing of fonts. Usually written in proofwf.